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There's a lot you can do:
- Quit smoking (no brainer)
- Consider diet changes. This can have a major affect on your disease course. Go to the direct-ms website for lots of info. Also buy the 'MS Recovery Diet' book.
- Consider taking vitamin D, fish oil, magnesium, and a multi vitamin. Again direct-ms has lots on supplements.
- Look into LDN (low dose naltrexone). This is a mild prescription drug that has helped many MS people. You can take LDN with Copaxone.
Go here for starters - http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/.
- Perhaps the biggest - look into CCSVI.

My wife dx'd with ms 3 years ago, and has been following the diet and taking LDN, and has remained stable. She will be getting the CCSVI procedure in a few weeks.

chrishasms wrote:You have got to quit smoking. There are huge studies showing people who smoke have a faster progression of disease so if you are smoking you are literally playing Russian roulette.

<rant> It's more like Russian roulette with a semiautomatic with only one bullet in the clip. Cigarettes are poison and nicotine is a highly addictive drug. I know many people who have tried to quit, who really want to quit, but have failed every time. One person I know has successfully quit both heroin and nicotine. He stated that quitting heroin was easier and smoking was a much more insidious addiction. I also had an uncle that died from smoking. Lastly, think of all the money you'll be saving. It's nice that you've volunteered to pay an unfair share of the tax burden, but we would rather see you live a longer, healthier life. </rant>

DO not take any of these meds untill you have tried LDN - Low dose naltrexone first.

Im 24, and started LDN (2mg) 2 years ago, and since starting it have not got ANY worse.
I am in the same state/mobility as i was 2 years ago,
- it also slightly improved my walking strength/balance but only slightly.

Those other expensive and uncomfortable meds cant do this!

LDN is just one pill you take before going to bed with NO side effects beside the first week of taking LDN its harder to fall asleep, THATS IT!

I cant recommen LDN strongly enough, you do not get any worse when you take LDN, and it only costs me $40/£25 per month!

Good luck

Last edited by adamt on Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

I thought LDN was GREAT for my innumerable symptoms. And...it seemed to promote healing in many non-MS ways. But...the main problem was that my slight walking difficulties continued to progress slooowly through the entire year, at the same speed as before LDN, and I ended up using a cane about halfway through it.

It's difficult to evaluate that kind of success/failure... I kept taking LDN until my PCP at the time decided to freak out about it like my other ones had and fired me as a patient with a certified letter. I'd try it again - if only for symptom relief.

I'll say a hello to all newcomers to MS and wish you well, but I have no med advice. I seem to be doing as well on diet/exercise/rest/humor as anyone who's on meds.

I do have some hope for CCSVI treatment once the dust settles and it makes its way to my area of the U.S. (no signs of that yet).

Good health and good choices to all.
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Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)

I try to cut down on the dairy and red meat, up the fish quotient, vitamins.....the only thing I need to do is exercise more...it's kind of an on-and-off thing for me. Mostly "laziness" as my hubby states.

one thing i forgot to say about LDN is you must start slowly say from 1mg and increase the dosage say to 2mg after 2 weeks , etc.

I started on 3mg and after a few weeks went up to 3.7mg and my body coudnt handle it so went down to 3mg and it was still not helping my mobility, so have stayed at 2mg and this is the dose for me, as it has completely stopped disease progression.

Everyones optimum dose is different, so when starting LDN start at a low dose like 1 or 2mg and slowly build up to 3mg or 4.5mg.

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